via The Chris Matthews Show, of all things. Now gone viral.

The Chris Matthews Show features our own version of the "Mad Men" opening this week, starring President Obama. Our take of this iconic sequence portrays the struggles of President Obama's 2012 campaign, showcasing his rivals and highlighting the issues that may complicate his bid for reelection in 2012.

The making of it, here.

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Thank you, Michele Bachmann. I appreciate the opportunity to finally be able to express my thoughts on this week's Supreme Court arguments and the question of liberty.

Rep. Bachmann thinks every uninsured person in this country simply gambled with their health. They "rolled the dice" and took their chances that they wouldn't get sick. Insurers had nothing to do with it, of course. They were never tossed off the rolls of a health insurer's plan, they were never denied care, they never reached their lifetime cap, and they never lost their job and their insurance right along with it.

These things never happened. No, instead what happened is that they simply shrugged and figured they could screw their kids and themselves out of access to a doctor, preventive care, and treatment for conditions they could live with, even when they were sure there might be something wrong.

Take for example, this story related by Dr. Jen Gunter:

The patient in the emergency department smelled of advanced cancer. It is the smell of rotting flesh, but even more pungent. You only ever have to smell it once.

She had been bleeding irregularly, but chalked it up to “the change.” Peri-menopausal hormonal mayhem is the most common cause of irregular vaginal bleeding, but unfortunately not the only cause.

She hadn’t gone to the doctor because she had no health insurance. The only kind of work she could get in a struggling rural community was without benefits. Her coat and shoes beside the gurney were worn and her purse from another decade. She could never afford to buy it on her own. She didn’t qualify for Medicaid, the local doctor only took insurance, and there was no Planned Parenthood or County Clinic nearby.

Go read the whole thing. Because this is what Bachmann is talking about. This woman had no money, no means and no access to health care. And when she finally did get herself to a university hospital via ambulance to the emergency room, the only life-saving treatment available was not available to her because she could not pay for it.

Yep, there's some liberty for you. Liberty to rot away until the last ambulance takes you to the last emergency room for that last emergency that finally kills you after the cancer has eaten away the living parts.

Liberty. This is Michele Bachmann's liberty. Right here. Letting a woman die of a disease that could be treated and cured, if only. If only it could be paid for. And that university hospital did not choose to offer such treatments, nor was it obligated to offer them to those who could not pay. The only treatment they had to give was a blood transfusion and one single dose of radiation to stop the bleeding for at least a few days.

Then they had to send her on her way. Liberty. Liberty to die alone, penniless, untreated, and in pain. Liberty, people! This is Michele Bachmann's liberty, the liberty to not choose.

Liberty, my butt. It's slavery, and that's the essence of what these arguments boil down to. Take three minutes and listen to Solicitor General Verrilli explain this to the court:

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There are far too many of these stories. Maybe now, thanks to the Trayvon Martin case, internal affairs investigators will actually do their jobs and reporters won't be quite so eager to accept the official version of events. This case in November, featured on Democracy Now!, involved a 68-year-old man who accidentally pressed his medical alarm and ended up shot to death by police:

JUAN GONZALEZ: As the shooting death of Trayvon Martin continues to draw national attention, today we look at another controversial shooting of an African-American male that has received far less scrutiny. On the morning of November 19th, a 68-year-old former marine named Kenneth Chamberlain with a heart condition accidentally pressed the button on his medical alert system while sleeping. Responding to the alert, police officers from the city of White Plains, New York, arrived at Chamberlain’s apartment in a public housing complex shortly after 5 a.m. By the time the police left the apartment, Kenneth Chamberlain was dead, shot twice in the chest by a police officer inside his home. Police gained entry to Chamberlain’s apartment only after they took his front door off its hinges. Officers first shot him with a taser, then a beanbag shotgun, and then with live ammunition.

AMY GOODMAN: Police have insisted the use of force was warranted. They said Kenneth Chamberlain was emotionally disturbed and had pulled a knife on the officers. This is David Chong, public safety commissioner in White Plains.

DAVID CHONG: The officers first used an electronic taser, which was discharged, hit the victim, and had no effect. While the officers were retreating, the officers then used a shotgun, a beanbag shotgun.

AMY GOODMAN: Relatives of Kenneth Chamberlain have questioned the police portrayal of events that led to his death, and they say audio and video recorded at the scene back up their case. According to the family, Kenneth Chamberlain can be heard on an audio recording of his call to the medical alert system operator saying, quote, "Please leave me alone. I’m 68 with a heart condition. Why are you doing this to me? Can you please leave me alone?" Officers allegedly responded by calling Chamberlain a racial slur while urging him to open the door. The audio recording of the incident has not been made public and remains in the possession of the Westchester District Attorney’s office.

In early December, Kenneth Chamberlain, a retired marine, was buried with military honors. The family posted video of part of the ceremony.

Several months after his death, the name of the officer who killed Kenneth Chamberlain has yet to be released. The DA has vowed to convene a grand jury to determine if any of the officers should face charges.

We invited the White Plains Police Department and the Westchester DA’s office on to the program, but they declined to join us or issue a comment. But we are joined by Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., the son of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., the victim, and by two of the family’s attorneys. Mayo Bartlett is the former chief of the Bias Crimes Unit of the Westchester County District Attorney’s office and the former chair of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. Randolph McLaughlin is a longtime civil rights attorney. He teaches at Pace Law School.

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Last week, in a fit of anger at the injustice of the Trayvon Martin case, director Spike Lee stupidly tweeted the address of a George Zimmerman of Sanford, Florida. The only problem was that it was NOT the George Zimmerman who shot Trayvon Martin. It was instead the address of an elderly couple whose son shared the same name. At universal condemning, Lee apologized to the couple and today, agreed to a settlement for their distress. I agree with Balloon Juice's John Cole's initial reaction: Spike Lee is an idiot and should not be encouraging vigilante "justice". Unfortunately, Lee also gave the likes of Sean Hannity all the ammunition he needed to run a segment like the one this Thursday.

That said, I do agree with Ellen over at Newshounds who pointed out Hannity's hypocrisy. If he wants appoint himself the campaign donor police for President Obama (as they've done and failed already with Bill Maher), he probably should avoid playing the "both sides are equally terrible" game with his statements, considering his own connections to a charity run by a slavery-justifying, misogynistic Jesse Peterson:

A few quotes from Peterson, via the above links:

“I’ve often said that, ‘Thank God for slavery,’ because, you know, had not, then the blacks over here would have been stuck in Africa… The ride over (in a slave ship) was pretty tough but you know, it’s like riding on a crowded airplane when you’re not in First Class. It’s a tough ride. But you’re happy when you get to your destination.”
“Women’s rights are “a trick from Satan.”
“One of the greatest mistakes that America made was to allow women the opportunity to vote.”
"N)ot all, but most (women) turned into little whores.”

Or the hours upon hours of hate and misogyny that Rush Limbaugh spews on his show daily and that he was still doing this week despite hemorrhaging sponsors, as Media Matters documented here -- Limbaugh: If Health Care Reform Law Is Overturned "College Co-Eds" Might Have To Pay "To Have Protected Sex".

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It's no secret that Fox News leans to the right, but one host may have crossed the line on Friday when he actively encouraged viewers to "vote Republican" if they didn't like big government.

During an interview with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy seemed to endorse the congressman's "Path to Prosperity" budget.

"This really is kind of a campaign document because it draws a bright line between what the Republicans stand for and what the Democrats stand for," he explained. "If you want big government then the Democrats are your party."

Doocy added: "Whereas, if you want a party that's making some hard choices, vote Republican."

During the interview, Ryan had declared his support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"Here's the reason why I endorsed him," the House Budget Committee chairman said. "It's clear to me he understands the fork in the road America is facing. It's clear to me he understands exactly what we need to do to stop America from having a debt crisis."

"I also think he's the best chance of winning and defeating President Obama in the fall."

On Sunday, Ryan indicated that he was willing to "consider" accepting a nomination to be his party’s vice presidential nominee.

“I would have to consider it,” the Wisconsin Republican told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “But it’s not something I’m even thinking about right now because I think our job in Congress is pretty important.”

(H/T: Media Matters)

Yes, because if John Roberts, Scalia, Alito and Thomas say a Democratic bill is unconstitutional, then it must be so. I mean, those guys aren't the least bit partisan -- just "umpires" calling "balls and strikes."

This is a little like saying that because Republicans refused to vote for a bill that looked exactly like the one they proposed in the 1990s — that it wasn't "bipartisan."

Nice trick, eh?

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Rep. Michele Bachmann insisted this week that the reason 40 million Americans "choose" not to buy health care insurance has nothing to do with the cost.

Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity after attending Supreme Court arguments on Wednesday, the former Republican presidential candidate said that the Obama administration was wrong to suggest that insurance could be regulated because everyone would eventually be in the health care market.

"One argument that the government was trying to make is that somehow health care is uniquely different," Bachmann explained. "That government can regulate it because everyone participates. Health insurance is not uniquely different."

"It’s still an opportunity that some people choose to engage in, but 40 million people do not."

She continued: "And the premise was made that people don’t buy insurance because they can’t afford it. That’s not true. There are people who just decide they want to roll the dice and take their chances that they won’t need insurance."

A survey (PDF) by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families found in 2009 that 66 percent thought Congress' top priority should be making health care more affordable. In all, 44 percent of those polled said they had cut back on household spending in the previous two years as a result of health care costs.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured determined (PDF) in 2007 that 80 percent of those without health insurance were working families.

In 2010, Bachmann became the first lawmaker to introduce legislation to repeal President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

As justices were hearing oral arguments on Monday, the Minnesota Republican stood on the steps in front of the Supreme Court and told several tea party groups that "this is the day that we have been waiting for!"

“We have not waived the white flag of surrender on socialize medicine!” she exclaimed. “This is one of the most important, consequential decisions that will ever come before this court. … We believe that the Constitution means something!”

(H/T: Think Progress)

In a show of solidarity for slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, some California Democrats donned gray hooded sweatshirts over their suits and ties during Thursday morning's legislative session.

The Sacramento Bee reports that State Sens. Curren Price, Juan Vargas, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg were among those who paid tribute to Martin with sweatshirts with "In memory of Trayvon Martin" printed on the back.

In the above video, State Senator Curren Price calls the session to order with a statement of the facts of Martin's death when "neighborhood watchman" George Zimmerman shot him, twice, as he walked home from a near-by store to buy Skittles and iced tea. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and has not yet been charged with any crime.

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Failed former junior senator from Pennsylvania by way of Virginia, turned presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum speaks to a crowd at The Armory in Janesville, Wisconsin on March 27th during a campaign stop.

In this speech, he had been blasting Barack Obama for all things real and imagined. Then where this clip begins Santorum continues "We know the candidate Barack Obama...what he was like. The anti-war, government nig... (insert stumble here)."

Oh my.

Maybe he meant to say "Blah people" again? Then Santorum awkwardly attempts to continue with some other thought bubble that hatched in his head. (The original video of the speech is available here. The remarks in question take place at about 34:50.)

Meanwhile, Santorum's campaign staff are searching desperately for a word that starts with "nig" that sounds plausible:

“Oh, come on!” Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley told Raw Story when asked for comment. “Give me a break. That’s unbelievable. What does it say about those that are running with this story that that’s where their mind goes. You know, I’m not going to dignify that with [a response].”

“That is absolutely ridiculous.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: The other slip here was to call the man who killed Osama "anti-war." Obama anti-war?! Rick must be thinking of some other blah person.

Anti-Flag "This Is The New Sound" from the album "The General Strike", out March 20th, 2012 on Sideonedummy Records.

"This Is The New Sound" video was shot at the historic Ohio State Reformatory, the same prison where Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

Amnesty International is teaming with Pittsburgh-based rock band Anti-Flag to speak out against indefinite detention, premiering the group's new music video, "This is the New Sound." Amnesty International and Anti-Flag have worked together on a number of important human rights causes, taking campaigns on tour with the band in the United States and overseas.

You made it to the weekend, TGIF!